NYT: Doctors who won't perform abortions don't need any more protections.

A friend sent me this link to a New York Times article here. The upshot of the article is that doctors (and other medical professionals) who oppose (and won't perform) abortion and contraception on moral grounds don't need any protection. Not too surprisingly, the Obama administration is in favor of forcing medical professionals to engage in these acts; sadly, the medical establishment (e.g., the AMA and its organs such as the New England Journal of Medicine, which is heavily pro-abortion) is in line with the Obama administration. This battle has been going on for years; it will heat up in the new year as the new Administration has stated that getting FOCA passed will be a priority. And how, you might ask, can a physician be forced into such things? Simple: medicine is the most highly regulated profession out there. Physicians can lose privileges for any number of reasons; hospitals can lose certification for any number of reasons. And, if that doesn't work, you just don't pay them (this may happen under the new administration anyway, but that is a separate topic). Some years back I saw an article in a Catholic bioethics journal arguing that the day may soon come when Catholic physicians and Catholic hospitals simply can't practice medicine. This is a distinct possibility. Perhaps we can all get a job at GM.

Remeber, American Catholics put the President-elect in power.